We are still firmly in the Brendan Fraser renaissance — the Brenaissance, if you will — and it’s a particularly great time to be a fan as the actor is bringing back one of his best franchises with The Mummy: Book of the Dead hitting theaters next fall. But while everyone is rightfully excited for the fourth installment of the absolutely iconic The Mummyfranchise, there is another Fraser performance that gets slept on — a cartoon remake that still holds up almost 30 years later and frankly should have started a franchise.
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In 1997, Disney released George of the Jungle. The film followed a man (Fraser) who was raised by animals in the jungle and ends up falling for a wealthy heiress (Leslie Mann) he saves from a lion while she’s on a tour of Burundi. This ends up leading to a conflict with her vain, self-absorbed fiancé (Thomas Hayden Church). The film is actually based on a 1967 animated series of the same name and is an absolute hoot — something audiences agreed with as the film was a box office hit. But instead of getting a proper sequel and kicking off a great franchise, all we got was a direct-to-video follow up six years later without Fraser.
Why Didn’t George of the Jungle Become the Franchise It Fully Deserved?
Image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures
Now, looking back at George of the Jungle it’s easy to see why the movie was a hit. Nearly 30 years on it is a genuinely great film. Fraser’s performance hits a perfect balance between earnestly wholesome and sweet and insanely physically fit jungle dude. Like, I’m talking he looks like a caricature but gives the character actual heart. It’s a rare thing to see. The movie is also incredibly self-aware with its humor and while it was funny in 1997, it’s just as funny (and maybe more so) now. That is owed to the fact that the humor is smart and doesn’t punch down. It lets you in on the jokes. And of course, there’s the physicality of the movie that is just so refreshing coming from a landscape of heavy CGI. A George of the Jungle made today would look very, very different.
So, why did a move that was great then and clearly great now just fizzle out? This is where we have to talk about the 1990s in terms of Fraser. While we all know him and love him from The Mummy, that movie came out two years after George of the Jungle and was very much is star-making role. Sure, Fraser made some great movies before then — Encino Man, School Ties, Airheads, they’re all classics — but while George of the Jungle was a hit, it was The Mummythat really propelled his career. And when the studio wanted a sequel to George of the Jungle, they didn’t want to pay him appropriately. Fraser also was at a different place in his career at the time, but the money was definitely a part of it.
There was also the matter of the toll making George of the Jungle had on Fraser’s body. As we noted, George was incredibly physically fit, which was part of the character what made things so interesting, but that came at a physical cost. Fraser had to do a lot to get into that kind of extreme shape, including an extremely low-carb diet that took a toll. Ultimately, Disney would do a sequel, but Fraser didn’t return. Christopher Showerman was recast in the role and Mann also did not return, her role being recast with Julie Benz. Disney tried to make a joke of it within the film in a fourth-wall breaking moment, but the charm of the original was gone. The film still has a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sadly, we never got more of Fraser as George, but it’s one of his most fun roles and is well worth rediscovering (or watching for the first time!) today. It’s a rare 1990s film based on an even older property that feels fresh and timeless. It’s a deeply good time and the perfect watch while we wait for The Mummy 4.
How do you feel about George of the Jungle? Sound off in the comments!
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